Endscape
by Queen of Corners
Summary: Things were going fine until Lucy unwittingly helped a four-hundred-year-old vampire antagonize some of the underworld's most terrifying creatures in existence. Now they're on the run, a silly promise the only thread linking them together while their respective worlds shatter into millions of pieces around them, but Lucy's not complaining. NaLu /dead
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** : Hello and welcome! What am I doing, writing a fic when I should be doing many other things, I have no idea, but I'm not about to stop.

Before we get on with this, I just wanted to say a little bit more about this fic. It's a sort of modern AU with vampires, mages, sirens, fairies and all other assorted beings that really have no place in this world. Inspired by two prompts found on tumblr that I ended up blending into one, "I hit you with my car but you just got inside and yelled "Drive!"..."

Anyway, this is going to be a little bit more heavily action-focused and _then_ romance-oriented, but I guess I can say there'll be plenty of both.

Rating M for mature themes and likely some smutty events later on.

Thanks for checking this out and I hope you like it!

* * *

If there was anything worse than midday traffic jams when she was in a hurry, it had to be midday traffic jams in the summer.

Slowly baking under the smoldering sun, stuck in the middle of a sea of vehicles that extended for likely several kilometers while the heat of all the working engines and midday sun reflected of the asphalt was not how Lucy intended to spend most of her day. She would've been better off visiting a sauna or something like that, really. This way, she could barely even breathe and exhaust fumes were hardly nice to smell.

Occasional swearing and loud horns made the already awful day that much worse.

On the seat beside her, sky blue smartphone flared to life, low melody humming into the rough materials before it settled down. Poor thing must have been struggling in the heat as much as its owner was.

Lucy afforded it only a simple glance, too late to see anything but the red dot blinking in the corner, something that had been going on for the past hour.

"Great… just great. You're not going to last long enough for me to call Levy, are you?"

The blinking continued at its unperturbed pace, as if mocking her.

Lucy snorted and glanced back to the low fuel tank, letting out a raspy groan.

"What's next? A hail storm in the perfectly clear sky?"

Lord, she should have known not to say that. Fate had that perfect way of turning everything in on its head lately and this was her giving an open invitation for it to stomp in and ruin her life.

Her shirt was drenched in sweat and hair that had been tied in a ponytail hadn't escaped the cruel fate, either. What had been the point of washing it that morning, anyway? Even with all the windows open and the fans working at their highest output, the inside of her car was only barely breathable. Another reason to consider making friends with that huge sum of money on the account she'd promised to never touch.

Phone hummed again, and Lucy slammed her head down on the horn. It blared to life, so sudden and unexpected, but her will and water-depraved body barely even twitched, letting it just go on while she slowly gathered the strength to lean back in the seat again.

"Shut the fuck up!"

Obviously, the macho in the silver Toyota beside her—with a functioning AC, she noted as the windows automatically closed—didn't appreciate her efforts.

Out of spite, she pressed down on the horn again and stuck her tongue out at him, then set the radio volume to the max, letting the beats wash over her, although even the music had stopped having a significant impact twenty minutes into this mess.

The bliss lasted for all too briefly, the song finished and the radio hosts taking over to move onto the news. Any attempts to switch the frequencies ended in a whole lot of buzzing that really only gave way to another headache.

"Ah what is going on? What is going on? What's happening here?" The impatience was eating her alive, draining the last bits of her energy.

Several horns blazed to life again, some much louder than Lucy's could ever hope to be. Driver of the air conditioned Toyota cursed the world loud enough she could hear him even through closed windows. Then the girl finally realized that the dark blue SUV that had been in front of her for the past hour or so was finally beginning to move… while the Toyota's lane remained firmly stuck.

So maybe there was some cosmic justice in this world, after all.

Stepping on the gas, she pressed down on the siren again, then made the victory sign at the Toyota driver, a mustached jerkass who seemed much too stuck up for a nice car like that.

"In your face, hah!"

He might have started on a whole other set of curses, but at this point, she would happily let it be. _Her_ lane was moving. His was most definitely _not_. Take that, slimy ass!

Lord she was finally moving. The crowd was finally clearing out. Thank _god_.

"Yessss!"

Had she had music, she most definitely would have sung at the top of her voice.

It took another fifteen minutes to go over the distance that she usually would have crossed in less than five, but thank goodness the roads in front of her had cleared out and she was finally going to get out of this godforsaken city.

"First stop, convenience store. No way I'm gonna go through this without some water."

Her cheerfulness came to the point where she was humming under her breath even without beats in the background, throat too dry for any actual attempt at singing, at least until something caught her eye for a brief moment. Momentum lost and interest piqued, she tried to get a better look, but it was moving so fast— _ohmygod!_

Lucy screamed, foot pressing on the brakes, but it was far too little, far too late. He'd noticed her a moment too late, the speed at which she was going too much for the collision to be avoided. The crash was loud as he landed on the hood, but all she got to see was pink hair, dark red t-shirt and a cracked windshield before the car came to a stop and he slid onto the ground.

"Oh my god, oh my god, _oh my god_!" Lucy was already fumbling with her seatbelt, but at that speed, god, what if he—

Cutting off the thought before it could form, she grabbed her dying phone and punched in the emergency service numbers, in haste to get unwrapped from the aged seatbelt. She'd been just about to get out when the passenger door snapped open and the very same person she'd just flattened settled into the seat, rubbing his shoulder.

"Drive," he said, not even giving her a second glance.

Lucy's jaw tightened, as she struggled to form the words. "W-what?" Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized the engine was off and her hand was still on the handle, and if she really needed to she could still run without getting caught. But running would also mean leaving her car behind along with the assorted boxes in the back seat and many more other things in the trunk. She couldn't do that.

"Seriously, there's no time, you gotta drive!" he urged, while Lucy tried to reach for the door without him realizing it. All her efforts were wasted once he grabbed her free wrist and yanked, until they were face-to-face. Lucy's breath hitched in her throat as two deep, dark eyes locked on hers, far closer than they should have been.

"Look, I know I probably freaked you out right now, but for your own good, we need to get out of here _now_."

He looked young—probably around her age—and earnest. Handsome too, she'd later recall, but in that moment her thoughts had been a jumbled mess and if anybody had asked her what her name was, she probably would have gotten it wrong. What had to be a scarf was tied around his head, pulling the spiky pink hair back, while his shirt was worn out and damaged in places. Beyond that, though, she saw absolutely no damage. Other than the fact that he'd somehow ripped out her car's emblem and was now twirling it between his fingers.

 _Damn_ this guy. How did he dare?

"And just who are you to—" the words died on her lips when he yanked her forward again and into his chest, and tucked her head under his arm. She had a moment to realize that his body temperature was abnormally high and that he had a really deep and old scar on his neck. Then the passenger window shattered, glass raining over them both.

"What the?!" Lucy screeched.

"I'm telling you, damn it! We gotta get out of here now. It's after me, but _fuck_ if it cares about collateral."

Realizing that by collateral, he definitely meant her and her car, Lucy took a deep, calming breath. "Alright, sure… I'm on it!"

She nearly messed up with the keys and she even fumbled with the gear a second too long, until she forced her hands to stop shaking. She could ask questions later. Just as she turned the key, one of the windows in the back shattered.

"Just go!" he snapped, eyes trained on something behind him.

"I'm telling you, _I'm on it_!"

Stepping on the gas, she pulled onto the pavement, before she managed to stumble back on the road. In the rear view, she caught a sight of something black and distinctly not human, hovering several inches above the ground, right where her car had been moments ago. It was also smoking, dark black fumes lifting of it and disappearing about a meter in the air.

"What was that just now?" she asked, as she made it through the green moments before the lights switched. There was nothing she could see behind them anymore, but the very sight had chilled her to the bone.

When she got no response, she took a moment to glance at the cause of all her problems, but all she got to see was a handsome young man sinking deep into her seat, as far as he could go in a mock attempt to get swallowed up. The muscles of his arms were defined so well that there was absolutely no way that this guy was anything other than an athlete, but both arms were scrunched over his stomach, any and all attempts at words lost in the roar of the wind.

Then it occurred to her that yes, this was the guy she'd crashed into at sixty kilometers per hour. No blood didn't always mean no injury.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! It must be awful. I'll get you to a hospital immediately, I know one along the way. Just hold on tight."

She may have said that, but mildly panicked as she was, she couldn't for the life of her remember if she should take the first or second left turn.

"N-no…" he croaked beside her, strong voice replaced by something barely stronger than a choked whimper. "… am… fine…"

Scrunched brow and sweat rolling down his very green face told another story.

Lucy let him be until she stopped at the next lights, and almost immediately noticed the change in his complexion. For a moment, he looked almost hopeful, a little of the green reverting back to normal. "We there yet?"

"Are you…" she began, though hesitantly, because it was both completely ridiculous, but also the only sensible explanation she could come up with, "… are you car sick?"

What little color had remained on his face now literally washed away, leaving only a twitching eye and pale complexion that did not at all match the rest of his skin tone. "I don't err… deal… with transport well."

"You mean you get motion sickness?"

He grimaced. "Not that simple."

"How can it get more complicated?!" Lucy hissed back. "More importantly, what were you thinking, getting into a car after being hit by one?"

"I didn't have much choice there," he grumbled, then paled as the lights changed. "Damn it." For a moment Lucy though about keeping the speed low, if only out of compassion, but scrapped the idea when she realized driving ten per hour made him just as sick as driving eighty.

"So are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" she mumbled after some time.

The realization that she was alone in her car with a motion sick stranger, two broken windows and a dead phone that she'd dropped next to her foot by accident was beginning to dawn on her, as was the fact that the stranger, at least, hadn't been antagonistic towards her. Yet. Although that earlier grip around her wrist had left a deep red trail.

Beside her, the boy with pink hair knocked out the remnants of the glass from the window frame, then leaned his elbow moments before his head collapsed down on it. The wind seemed to help, if only a little.

Despite the closed eyes, he managed to mumble, "Out…"

"You do realize that makes absolutely no sense?" she asked, and received back a pained groan.

Teeth biting deep in her bottom lip, Lucy slowed down. The hospital, while not conveniently in her way, wasn't straying too far off from where she was going either, but she wasn't really sure if it was a good idea. After all, she could… she could take _that_ risk, maybe…

She bit her lip until it drew blood and forcefully shook her head, focusing back on the road. Sure, going to the hospital could mean trouble for hitting a pedestrian, but wouldn't it be better to get him checked out just in case? Unfortunately, the hospital was at least another ten minutes away, his pained groans weren't exactly music to her ears and there was a faster solution, so to speak…

Well, she _was_ a selfish person.

Lucy Heartfilia was a very selfish person. As such, for the sake of her own convenience, she risked and did what was possibly the dumbest thing to do for a person in her very complicated situation. As she stopped for the next red light, the tip of her index finger lightly trailed down the skin of his arm, the contact almost sending electric jolts through her body. For him it might as well had been completely unnoticeable, too busy keeping the contents of his stomach inside.

It took some effort, and she wasn't really sure if it even worked, but the wave of sudden tiredness washing over her was a certain sign it should have made some difference.

Tearing her hand away from his biceps and glancing back at the changing traffic lights, Lucy let out a sigh of relief, and then they were finally on the move again. Beside her, the stranger twitched.

"Huh? That's strange…" His voice no longer sounded as if somebody was forcing him to talk through a mouthful of water.

All the girl's muscles tensed as she did her best to keep her attention on the traffic. This… well, _this_ had been a bad idea.

"What's strange?" she asked, despite herself.

"I feel—" his voice got caught in his throat, as a pair of green eyes so dark that they were nearly black focused on Lucy. She tried to keep her attention on the road and traffic, but every so often, her eyes drifted back to him while his face expressions morphed from confused to thoughtful to surprised.

"Whoa, what did you do?!" he demanded, with the amount of energy that left her completely stunned.

"Me?" she squeaked. "I didn't do anything!"

"No way, you had to have done something!" he insisted vehemently. "I _never_ get better in a car. Ever!"

She was just about to point out that sounded like the dumbest excuse ever and she wasn't even driving fast enough to make him sick, the words were right on the tip of her tongue, when he smirked. "Besides, I can smell it."

Lucy almost choked. " _What_?"

He shrugged. "Hell if I know."

Her shoulders sagged in unexpected relief. He remained quiet for a moment longer, during which she inwardly prayed to all the ethereal beings she could remember that he'd drop the subject.

Of course, no such luck.

"I can smell it," he said again, this time with an expression more thoughtful, the tip of his nose twitching. Was he actually sniffing around her car? "You're not human, are you?"

And in that moment, all of Lucy's muscles locked in place. All movement ceased, all the time in the world, her breathing, her heart, her thoughts… all of it might as well had simply frozen.

He gave her the brightest toothy grin she'd ever seen on a human face ever, slightly pointed canines only evidence that he might have a basis for what he was about to say.

"Knew it! Don't worry, I'm not gonna get you in trouble. Hell, whatever you did is actually making this whole transportation thing bearable. Nobody ever managed that! My stomach doesn't even hurt! Well, it's a little queasy and all that but man this is like the first time ever I feel alive in a car! For that alone I could totally kiss you."

What little Lucy heard barely registered in her mind, her hands on the steering wheel completely forgotten, as was the existence of her remaining limbs. Her jaw was beginning to unhinge, hanging unintelligibly while she tried to choke out the words, she wasn't all that sure which, while her pink haired companion continued animatedly talking about all sorts of things, going so far to play with the car emblem he'd ripped out of the hood. Compliment it, even. The sight of that alone pissed her off, but even that happened so far in the back of her mind that she wasn't sure if it might have happened once in a dream.

Finally, her presence of mind slowly began to return. Because, in a strange way that she couldn't quite understand, she knew he wasn't human, either.

"Wha—who— _what_ … are you?" slipped from her dry lips, barely above a whisper.

The young man looked at her, still grinning with exuberance that could have been contagious, apparently hearing her loud and clear.

"Can't you tell? I'm a vampire."

For a very long moment, the only sound was that of the engine roaring and it was getting quieter by moment, as Lucy's foot on the gas slackened.

The car struggled and complained and lurched, until it finally came to a stop, and when it did, only then did she began to understand exactly what he'd said. The strangest feeling of utter dread weighed on her shoulders, sending the oddest ice cold jitters down her spine.

"You're what?"

And in that moment, she wasn't sure if she sounded more stupefied or completely aghast.

"A vampire." He merely looked on at her with the same unrelenting grin, and if he'd had a tail, he probably would have been wagging it at a prank well done. Lucy rested her head on the wheel, ignorant of all the irritated horns blaring around them.

"Right… of course you are."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ahh you guys are so awesome, thank you so much to everyone who followed and reviewed! Here's chapter two. I can't promise the next update will be this fast but I can already tell you chapter 3 is finished and waiting for edits.

Have fun!

* * *

Natsu was struggling to keep the grin off his face, as he handed a bottle of cold water to the blonde who had so _kindly_ saved his ass. She was sitting at one of the small tables posted around the gas station, intended to give all those going on longer trips a spot to sit and get a snack. Or something like that. He wasn't really sure, but it definitely came in handy under the circumstance. The blonde had buried her head in her hands, only lifting it up when the cold plastic touched her cheek.

"Thanks, I guess," she rasped, and Natsu merely shrugged as he sat across her, chin resting on his arms. He snorted with amusement while she struggled to open the bottle, a curse slipping through her teeth until she got rid of the cap.

"You know, you're taking this surprisingly well, all things considered."

The girl leveled him with a scowl at the reminder of her initial freak out, cheeks flushed bright red. Natsu sniggered, though subconsciously rubbing the place when she'd swatted his arm earlier, in return for 'damaging her car'. Not that he'd call the box with a set of wheels much of a car, but at least it was red so it got a pass. Admittedly, she had kept her distance from him as far as the circumstance would allow, as if worried he'd get tempted enough to bite her.

Tough luck on that one, right there.

But okay, maybe trying to bite her finger to snap her out of that little reverie hadn't been that good of an idea.

"You call this well?" she groaned, taking a long gulp of the cold water, careless of the fact that some of it was spilling and running down her chin and throat and into the crazy huge cleavage, which her shirt, by the way, did a poor job at hiding. When it half-empty, she slammed it down on the wooden table. Man, little stronger and she would have left a dent.

Moments later, she planted her face down, too.

Natsu almost pouted now that he could no longer enjoy the sight.

"Just my luck," she hissed into the wood, as if completely unaware of the fact his senses were real sensitive to just about everything.

"Something wrong?" he inquired, genuinely interested. If there was anything he could do to help, he'd do it gladly. It wasn't often he got run over by hot chicks who also happened to belong to his crazy world and were actually willing to offer a helping hand.

"Other than the fact that I'm playing chauffeur to a vampire? Speaking of, how the hell are you sitting in the sunlight? Isn't that stuff supposed to kill you?"

"What? Sunlight?" he mumbled, brow twitching as he gave it some thought, although now that he thought of it, it would likely seem strange. The sun high in the sky could explain why he thought he was missing something, damn it. Realizing the girl was still waiting on an answer, he sighed. "Well I guess it makes my arms kinda itchy, and I hate it that I lost my sunglasses, but I've never had any other problems."

Her head snapped up, pair of warm chocolate eyes opening wide. "What? Seriously?!"

Natsu snorted. "Do I look like I'm dying to you?"

"Ah… well, no… but…"

"Man, you come up with weird nonsense, you hu—hold on, you're not a human."

His eyes narrowed as her body stiffened. He sniffed the air, the strange aroma once again assaulting his senses. It had been stronger back in the car, but even now it was nearly enough to completely overwhelm his senses. It also seemed kind of delicious, but he better not tell her that. She seemed twitchy enough as is. "Yep, definitely not a human."

Biting her lip, the girl looked away from his prodding eyes, as if afraid of what he might ask. He almost laughed. It's not like he was about to interrogate her, he wasn't a busybody like senile old gramps.

"Look, I'm not gonna—"

She cut him off, voice surprisingly quiet.

"So… what do you think I am?"

Her eyes were distant as her finger subconsciously trailed along her arm. There was nothing out of the usual on any part of her body, not a power tattoo, not pointed ears or weirdly complicated eyes. If anything, she looked more like a regular human than humans themselves did. Natsu observed for a long moment, taking the moment to think about his words before he said something absolutely dumb, while she ran trembling fingers through the silky blonde ponytail.

"It's not like I'm some species detector or anything, so honestly, I have no idea. Couple years back and I'd think you're just human with a strong scent or something."

She blinked, and for a moment he thought it was disappointment that crossed her features, but then her eyes narrowed a fraction.

"Wait, are you trying to say that I _smell_?"

He snorted. "Obviously. Everybody does. You're kinda weird. You smell weird too so I guess it's a good match."

Her face remained contorted for several moments, before a hand shot out to rub her temples. "I'd get seriously offended by that, you know, if it weren't for the fact that I do know I'm not really a human."

"So what are you?" he asked with genuine interest. "Sure, you don't have to say if you don't want to—really. It doesn't matter to me either way. I'm just curious."

The smile that crossed her features for a moment was a little strange, before she shook her head. "I guess there's no other way about it, huh." He raised an eyebrow, but the girl lightly shook her head, a melancholic look crossing her features. "To be honest, I don't know, either. This whole… supernatural business? I've only been a part of it for about a week. I can't make either heads or tails of it."

Natsu scratched the back of his head. Now that she was actually talking normally, he liked her voice. It was kinda melodic and soft but it also had that strange commanding vibe. It was a lot more pleasant to his ears than most other voices he'd listened for his whole life and he actually liked those people.

Appealing, huh? Maybe a fairy?

He dismissed the idea immediately. Those things always had that forest-like smell about them, it was literally ingrained and even living inside the big and smelly city, she'd definitely never lose that kind of essence.

"A siren, maybe?"

"What?"

"Nah, you don't actually put people to sleep with your voice, do you?"

"Of course not!" she shouted indignantly. Then, a lot more subdued, "Do sirens really do that?"

"Among other things. Anyway, what's all this supernatural stuff you're talking about? I mean, you do know that's a whole lot of bull right there, right? Sure they got _some_ stuff right… err… I think…? Most of that is just a bunch of old legends merged together and possession _totally_ doesn't work that way. Where do people get all those ideas?"

The blonde stared at him, before slowly, she asked, "Excuse me, but _what_ are you talking about?"

Dear god, how could she _not_ know? His expectations were plummeting rapidly, hand scratching his temple under the scarf furiously.

"Supernatural, duh. All the crazy stuff? Demons, angels, Ruby? Oh yeah we totally aren't gay brothers?" It was actually tough to feign cheerfulness now. She neither had a good car nor did she know anything about the good stuff. "Man, that's a disappointment."

" _What?_ Wait, what? Since when do vampires watch TV?"

"What are you talking about? TV is like the coolest stuff ever. Do you have any idea how _bored_ I was before that box got made? Hell, it's not even a box anymore. Did ya see those thin-like-paper things? And those that curve? _Wow_ _!_ "

She spluttered, jaw hanging wide open. "How long have you been alive?"

Natsu shrugged, thoughts drifting to a series of events he'd rather not remember. "Dunno? Four hundred years, give or take? I think I got turned way back in 1577. Or was it 1614? I'm not sure. It's been a while." Before she could ask any more, and he was pretty sure she had a lot to ask, he raised a hand in warning.

The hairs at the end of his neck stuck out and he took a deep breath in effort to identify the presence he could feel in the distance. Recognition was almost immediate.

"Alright, buckle up. We've gotta go," he said.

"Huh? What's going on?" She might have said that, but she'd reached out for the water bottle protectively. "That smoky thing from before?"

"That smoky thing is a Plutog… errr… Pluto-something. It's also pretty damn weak, but it's got some nasty tricks."

Blonde huffed as she followed him back towards her car—for all the shit that the car was and the fact it was literally falling apart, he actually liked the damn thing if only because it didn't make him feel as sick as usual _and_ it was red. Bright red.

 _Awesome_ red.

Maybe she'd not hate him as much if he offered to pay for repairs? Where'd he get the money, though?

She spoke then, forcing him to push that train of thought aside for the time being.

"So if that Pluto thing is so weak, why did the mighty vampire feel like he had to break into my car to get away from it?" Her voice was light and easy, but insinuation that he was too weak to handle that little speck of dirt left a sour taste in Natsu's mouth, arms crossing indignantly over his chest.

"It's got some real annoying quirks," he said after a long moment, although unwillingly. "But can't use them on humans. I thought you were one so it seemed like an easy ticket to get away. Turns out you weren't and I involved somebody who had nothing to do with my mess. I'm not gonna have you suffer for it."

The girl stopped a few paces away from her car, eyes wide, while the hot summer wind blasted the hair away from her face. A tiny smile tugged at her lips. "You're surprisingly nice, you know. For a vampire."

Natsu spun in place, temper flaring. "Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Was she just messing around or was that another one of those super sarcastic insults?

She ignored him as she unlocked the door and opened them wide to let some of the heat out. Finding a good place for parking had been absolutely impossible and the inside of the car now had to be around forty degrees. Not that Natsu minded, really. She, on the other hand, had called it unacceptable.

"Good thing I refilled the fuel tank right away. Where did you want to go?"

He considered it for a brief moment, then grinned. "Sydney, Australia?"

The girl stopped in her tracks, lifting her head to give him the most incredulous look he'd ever seen on a face ever. "Are you an idiot? Do you really think I can get you to a whole other continent with just a _car_? That's preposterous!"

"Aw man, I was really hoping I could have some fun. Their beaches are the best." At the baffled look he received, it was hard to keep his lip from twitching. "That too far for you?" he teased, but whatever quip back he'd expected, he didn't get it, for the girl just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I'm on the way to Magnolia and if you've got trouble with that, then I'll drop you on the side of the road or something."

"Aww nooo, but how are you gonna handle the Pluto-thingy and that dumbass owner of his?"

The girl leveled him with a glare, one hand on her hip as the implications of what he'd said rang clear. "And why would I have to deal with your problems?"

Natsu opened the door, but hesitated before entering. She raised an eyebrow at that, but he refused to offer any hints. They were still far enough, but approaching a little too fast for his tastes.

"Fine, you don't have to answer."

Focusing back on her, he noticed she'd settled down into the driver's seat, a brief smile crossing her features now that she was sure that her phone had charged to twenty percent, before they settled back in a frown. He leaned forward, not quite ready to sit yet, rubbing his forehead. He almost sneezed as something tickled his nose. _Ugh_. And this was why he hated urban areas. The smells sucked.

"You don't get it, do you?" he said finally, more than a little impatient at this point. "That Pluto-thingy can't really hurt me. It can see me, nothing else. It can't track me, either."

A delicate eyebrow raised, the expression on her face making it much too easy to know she didn't believe a word out of his mouth. But hey, at least she was willing to indulge him. "Then how—"

"How is it following us?" he cut her off.

When she nodded, he sighed.

"It's following you. We don't really have the kind of scent that makes it easy for those shadow dumbasses to follow. Maybe it can work for a while when there's nobody else around, but it's pretty useless whenever there's another living being nearby. I think. Anyway, you're the one who has a crazy strong presence and weird smell, they'd probably gather to you like moths to flames."

"But my car—"

"Completely irrelevant."

A thoughtful expression crossed her features as a finger found its way to her chin. "But then… that means they'll just keep following me?" Her voice faltered at one point, but Natsu vehemently shook his head.

"Don't worry, Plutogrim ain't the problem. This one especially. It's very young. A few months old at best. Its owner, though, is a real nasty piece of work, and that's why we need to get out of here."

"Right…" The girl nodded. "So… why aren't you getting inside?"

Natsu cringed, the familiar nausea settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Look, blondie, I'm gonna make you an offer."

"As long as you don't drink my blood—"

Natsu rolled his eyes, a growl escaping his throat. "Aw come on, you're so savage! We're not bloodsuckers, you know. It doesn't work that way."

"Excuse me, but don't you live on human blood?!" she almost screeched.

"True, but you ain't human. Drinking your blood could potentially put me in a coma for a week and that would suck."

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or offended by that," she grumbled. "Also, it's not blondie. I have a name."

"Yeah, whatever. Look, here's how it's gonna be. I'm gonna get those crazy assholes off your back for good, and put in some word with gramps. He's completely crazy and I'd rather not stick around him for too long, but if there's anyone on this planet who can figure out what you are, it's him."

"I see," the girl mumbled, chewing on her bottom lip. "I'm… tempted, I suppose. This superna—err, whole revelation has put me in for quite a loop. But what do I have to do in return?"

Natsu sighed. Here's where it gets tricky.

"See, I'm on the run right now, so to speak. I pissed off some major bigwigs in the underworld and now they're out for my blood—hahahah, you get it?!" At the ice cold glare he received, he huffed a little in protest. It was a _good_ joke. "Anyway, they're not going to just leave me alone. You on the other hand, simply by being near me, are completely able to mask what I am at least from most of those bastards. So what I need you to do is just drive me around for a bit until they lose my trail completely. And if you could do whatever you did when I got in your car, that'd be a blast. This whole thing would suck if I had to spend it feeling sick all the time."

She contemplated it, of course. Just by her breathing alone, it was easy enough to tell she was seriously thinking about his proposition, but he didn't really have the time to let her mull over it. They were much closer now.

Just a little bit more and they'd be right there. Just like Natsu wanted it.

"So?" he pressed, when she gave no immediate response, and the impatience was starting to get at him.

"Umm… I can accept, I suppose, but—"

"Great," Natsu said, as he sat down in the car and slammed the door shut. Gosh, the engine wasn't even running yet and his stomach was feeling queasy. Potentially even worse than usual. Why was he going about it this way, again? Ah, right. Guilt. "I can trust you, right?"

"Huh?"

"I can trust you?" he repeated, leveling his eyes with hers once again, holding her gaze for a long and intense moment that quickly stole her breath away. It took several second for her eyes to lose some of their shine, her lower lip trembling. Although she didn't seem to understand what it was, there was some awareness of what he was doing, and she forcefully tore her eyes away from his.

"I keep my promises," she mumbled, chewing on her lip.

"Good." Natsu smiled. He hoped she had any idea what kind of a fate she'd just narrowly avoided. "I'd hate it if I had to do the blood oath with you."

"You'd hate to do what?"

"What, haven't humans worked that concept out to death by this point?"

The blonde scoffed. "Shut up. You're the one who said most of those are wrong. And I'm pretty sure blood oath isn't used to just seal a deal or keep a promise, in fiction or your little world."

"Sure it is," Natsu replied. "I would've died a dozen times over by now if it weren't a thing. That's beside the point though. If I can trust you, then I don't really want to pull that shit on you. It's that simple."

The blonde regarded him thoughtfully, before she started the car.

Ultimately, she said nothing, and whatever more Natsu wanted to say was completely forgotten when the engine roared to life and his stomach immediately performed a series of wild upside-down twists that left him reeling, barely holding back from vomiting all over himself.

A cool hand settled on his forehead, and from where it made contact with his skin, a strange tingling feeling washed over him. Although the effect was slow, his stomach began to calm down, and by the time they were back on the road and moving in speeds which would have normally left him unconscious, all he felt now was slight queasiness whenever they ran into a road bump.

The girl's eyes were strictly focused on the road, posture firm and straight even though her breathing was ragged. Didn't look like she was about to admit it, but the little trick she'd just pulled must have been exhausting.

The air rushed through the three open windows, roaring in their ears as it ruffled their hair, and had his senses been any worse, he probably would have missed the tired pants that left her lungs.

"You said you're going to Magnolia, right?" he said after some time.

"Yeah."

"I don't mind dropping by there. It's a nice city."

"I see."

"And it's Natsu, by the way."

He saw the corner of her mouth twitch, as sweat rolled down from her forehead.

"Pretty simplistic name for a four-hundred-year-old vampire."

He grinned. "Life's weird that way."

"Yeah, that it is," she said with a low chuckle. "It's nice to meet you, I suppose. I'm Lucy."

No sooner had she said that, a blast echoed behind them, a wall of fire raising high in the sky, swallowing everything in its path. The tower of flames had to be at least forty meters high and just as wide, erasing everything from sight, the trees, the station, the picnic tables, while the cars going towards that braked hard in effort to stay away from the raging inferno.

Still, it did little to stop the heat from traveling, the inside of the car warming several degrees. The girl was beginning to sway in her seat as sweat rolled down her form. Eyes stuck to the rear view, her hands trembled for a moment, before Natsu's voice grounded her.

"Keep driving."

"What…? But the gas station… there were people inside… the whole thing…? Was _that_ what you meant by taking care of this?"

Natsu rolled his eyes, arms crossing over his chest again. "Maaan, you really have no faith in me. I'm not a mindless murderer, you know? I wasn't gonna destroy the gas station as a diversion. How could you even think that?" Most of it was feigned, but it was hard to keep the hurt completely out of his voice.

She must have caught on, because she wasn't trying to kick him out of the car yet.

"But that explosion—"

"I just messed with the seals, that's all. Humans can't go past the seals anyway. They'll be fine. Though I can't make any promises for the tech inside."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?!"

"Uhhh, you're so behind the times," he groaned, furiously rubbing his forehead, but he could hardly come up with a good explanation. How could somebody freakishly strong as she was _not_ know about the seals?

"Natsu!?" she hissed, and he was about ready to give up.

"Look, that's what the seals _do_. Make huge explosions, and a bunch of other things. It can't spread anywhere outside the seals so yeah nobody except those who triggered it are in trouble. Well, my seals do that. Ice prick's got some other tricks up his sleeve." Just admitting that _that_ particular jerk had a wider range of tricks than Natsu did pissed him off. "You just keep driving, okay? That Pluto-thing couldn't have possibly made it through my trap alive, but that stinky demon ass wouldn't break a sweat form a tiny explosion like that."

The girl stared at him in disbelief, glancing back at the fires still raging behind them. One look told her, however that the blazing inferno now only reached half its former height and was visibly getting smaller.

"You call that tiny?" she finally breathed through her teeth anyway, but her body was beginning to relax.

Natsu huffed, about to argue, when a particularly nasty road bump almost had him retching everywhere. He leaned back into his seat with a groan, his stomach feeling worse with every passing second. Lucy said something, but under the circumstance he could hardly afford to listen.

"Not… again… _Ugh_. I'll… just… try to get… some sleep…" He could only barely hold the bile back, uncertain whether what he'd heard was an affirmative answer or a complaint, though right now he could hardly bring himself to care. The coolness at his bicep began to spread around, slowly, but it no longer had that soothing effect. When he glanced it was to see Lucy slowly trailing circles along his arm, but those did absolutely nothing to soothe his nausea. The guilty look on her face made him wonder if she understood that.

Her lips mouthed the words and in his dazed state, he thought it might have been an apology.

Then everything around him slowly faded away.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : Well here's chapter 3! In a way, we're finally getting down to business!

Thanks for reading and I hope you like it!

* * *

"And that's pretty much how it is," Lucy sighed, hoping that the voice carried all the way to the phone that was resting in her lap. "So I'm dropping by the apartment to leave all my things, but I still have to drop Natsu off somewhere, so I probably won't be there when you get back. If you need some groceries, I'll just buy them on the way."

"That's really thoughtful of you, Lu-chan, but really, I'm more worried about the fact that you agreed to let some random hitchhiker into your car like that. That's really dangerous, you know?"

"Levy, he's got motion sickness. He's been passed out in my car for the last three hours. I'm starting to feel sorry for him, if this is the kind of torture he has to go through every time he gets on a vehicle."

"It could be just an act," her friend reasoned, and under any other circumstances, Lucy would have likely agreed.

As it was, she just sighed. "Tell me that after you've spent hours with him in a car. Besides, I couldn't just leave him. He did help me out." As she said that, she glanced at the prone form passed out in her seat. She'd pushed it down as much as she could have, to give him something closer to a bed, but considering all the boxes she had stocked up behind, there wasn't much she could do.

"Right… well, in either case, be careful, Lu-chan. I'll see you when I get home."

Home… the word sounded so nice. Lucy had to hold back a giddy chuckle that would have been just plain embarrassing "Alright," she said instead. "And Levy-chan?"

"Mm?"

"Thank you for everything."

"Don't be silly. That's what friends are for. Just call me when you drop off the hitchhiker, okay?"

"Of course."

Lucy hummed a greeting, leaving Levy to be the one to hang up, before letting the phone slip off her thigh and into the space between the seats. It had miraculously survived the entire ordeal without any damage, even though the battery was on the verge of dying yet again.

Last traces of sunlight were beginning to disappear behind the hills as they rushed towards the glistening lights in the valley ahead. The highway was surprisingly devoid of traffic, for a Thursday night, and Lucy rather appreciated the fact. Another ten minutes and they'd reach the apartment complex and the very thought of it made her desperate for a hot shower.

Already her shoulders were tense and the back of her shirt was absolutely soaked. Beside her, the pink haired vampire with the strangest name somebody could have ever picked out was not faring much better.

On the rare occasion he'd been conscious, he'd been glaring daggers at her with promises of pain and suffering for what she did to him, but it hardly changed the fact that his face had been a varying shades of green for the past couple hours.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, for likely the fifth time, as they finally officially entered the city. His eyebrow twitched, but there was no other indication that he'd heard her voice.

The wind blowing through her broken windows was colder now that the sun had set, sending chills down her spine. Another break wouldn't have been a bad idea, but they were already too close to stop and she didn't think she'd be able to keep driving if she stopped now. She'd been running on fumes for long enough. The set of buildings she'd headed towards was now visible, the only soothing thing in the face of all the challenges that waited ahead.

"Natsu," she called, as they stopped at the final lights before the destination. "Natsu."

He twitched, the expression on his face hardly showing any improvement. This was her fault, wasn't it? Though convincing him that it wasn't intentional was going to be hard.

"What?" he gurgled.

"We're almost there."

"Eeeeeh?"

"See that parking lot over there?"

One eye cracked open a fraction, before he hummed something she assumed to be affirmative.

"Hold on for just a little longer, okay?"

He choked out something again, eye closing firmly and Lucy decided not to push it anymore, not until she finally found a good enough place to leave her car. It was only once the engine itself was turned off that Natsu slowly begin to stir, and by that point, Lucy had already carried out most of the boxes she had in the trunk, setting them close enough to the door.

"What're you doing?" he asked, rubbing the forehead where he'd bumped into the door frame in his haste to get out of her 'wretched' car.

Lucy quite literally choked on air when she realized he'd taken his shirt off in the process.

"I'm the one supposed to be asking that!" she hissed. "What are you doing, taking your clothes off?"

Natsu froze in place, a curse slipping through his tongue. Then he spun and picked up the shirt he'd dropped on the hood, hastily throwing it back over his head. Another string of curses followed, out of which the only one that Lucy managed to pick out was, "Damn that stripper."

She decided she was better off not knowing.

"Aren't you going to help?" she pressed, as she settled two more boxes down on the ground, while Natsu remained standing a few feet away, neck stretching as he tried to look up all the way to the top floor.

"Help?" he growled. "You made me sick on purpose and now you're expecting me to help?"

Lucy cringed. "Yes… and I apologized several times. I panicked a little and it's not like I have a good control over the things I can do—I'm still practicing, okay? And I really am sorry for not trusting you immediately."

"You didn't have to make me sick!" he hissed. "You broke the promise!"

"I'm sorry!" she quipped. "And I so _did not._ Speaking of breaking promises, you were the one who gave me that real strange look, so would you please explain that?"

He huffed something under his breath and determinedly turned his head away. Lucy sighed, moving onto the next best thing. "So are you going to help me with these?" she gestured at the boxes.

Outright ignoring her to the point where she was one step away from smacking him on the head, he finally spoke, with the strangest kind of tension to his voice.

"Say, Lucy… do you really live here?"

She rolled her eyes.

"As of today, yes. Yes, I do."

"Oh… so you were moving. That's what the boxes are for."

Scratching his chin, he threw another glance to where she was struggling with carrying out the final box, before he sniffed the air. Then he craned his head again, and if she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was trying to count how many floors there were.

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?" she hissed, at this point more than a little annoyed. The box nearly fell out of her arms in her clumsy attempt to multitask with unlocking the entrance. "You know, I'd appreciate it if you picked up at least one of those and helped me."

His eyes snapped back to her and he hastily nodded, "Ah, sure!" But then they warily eyed the building as if it was his worst enemy. "Um… Lucy… you don't really own this building, do you?" he mumbled.

"Of course not," she huffed through gritted teeth, as she finally managed to get two of the boxes inside, with four more waiting. "Just what are—" but the words died on her lips as the pieces clicked together. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Hey!" he protested, but at this point she couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up in her chest.

"No, _really?_ Out of all the ridiculous nonsense we come up with—and those were your words, not mine—the most ridiculous one of all turns out to be true? This is gold."

Natsu groaned. "Stop laughing already."

"Oh come on! The big, scary, strong vampire can't be a gentleman because he has to be _invited_ in. That's just perfect!"

"Aaaargh, stop it! It's not like I chose to deal with this, okay? It'd be easy if you owned the building, I could get in no problem, but stupid renting means I'd have to go through all the trouble of looking for the asshole who owns this place just so I could get inside. Ugh, sometimes I really hate this, even with all the perks. Who came up with this renting shit?"

Lucy snorted, lifting her hand in a poor attempt to hide her giggles and failing miserably. "There are perks, huh?"

"Obviously!" he yelled indignantly, hands furiously rubbing through his hair. "Agh, what the hell do I do? I don't want to spend hours waiting outside like this? What if it rains _again_? Gosh I hate this. I swear, Ultear, when I find you, I'm definitely going to burn that stupid collection of yours! Arrrrgh!"

A little of Lucy's amusement died down at the realization he was completely serious about his predicament, going so far to sit on the concrete next to her car and sulk like a petulant child. She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment, before the question was out anyways.

"You've… had to deal with this often? Somebody not letting you inside?"

Natsu snorted, grumbling in his knee, "Who in their right mind would let a vampire in? Still, some people I know liked to pull it off as pranks, too."

"Really?" Lucy mumbled, all amusement slowly evaporating. "And you're sure… that I can't do anything about that?"

"Absolutely positive. Stupid archaic laws and shit."

The boxes beside them stood forgotten, as Lucy slowly contemplated all the possible scenarios. However, before she could even think of any applicable solution, Natsu began talking again, voice lazy and childish and even though she couldn't get a better sight of his face because of his efforts to hide it behind his knees, she was certain that he was pouting.

"Still, it's not like we can move out right away. That'd be a blast, honestly, but I'm not letting you drive in that state and I've had enough of transportation for one day…" Then, as if a light bulb clicked in his head, he jumped. "I know! I can sleep in your car!"

Lucy blinked. "What?"

She was met with a grin spreading from one ear to another, as he rushed to explain. "Well it's a great plan! You get to carry all those things inside, rest and whatever else you need to do, and I've got a place to stay until you're done! Perfect!"

"Natsu, wait—"

But the words died on her lips when he propped himself on the backseat with a content little sigh. "Man I even get to have two open windows! Awesome!"

"Natsu—"

"Right, I can even make sure nobody messes around with your car, too. Was about to say two birds with one stone but looks like it's gonna be three after all."

Any protests died on her lips when he said that, the realization that they didn't have much choice in the matter feeling like a punch to the gut. He had a point, in a way, because she would really have no idea how to get him all the way upstairs, but what bothered her even more was the fact that now that he'd gotten what he'd wanted, it didn't look like he'd even considered backing out on their little promise.

So many would have backed out for much less.

"Thank you, Natsu… and I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Huh? Did'ya say something out there?" he shouted from the car, and Lucy smiled lightly. There was absolutely no way he hadn't heard her loud and clear.

"I was just wondering, can you eat human food? I'm sure there are some snacks upstairs I could get you."

"Man, don't want me to go after an innocent passerby? You really have so little faith in me?"

Her cheeks burned, but Lucy held firm. "That didn't even cross my mind! I'm serious, if you can, I'll get you some snacks. It's the only way I can make up for this… well… everything."

A strange hum reached her, then he slowly said, "Human food tastes awful. But… if you could get me some fire, that'd be nice."

"Fire?" she echoed.

"Yeah. Like from a fireplace, or magically conjured fire! Well, even those lighters could work but the taste is yuck. Still better than human food, though."

Lucy let out a low chuckle. Since when did vampires eat fire? "Okay. I'll think of something. Are you hungry? Want me to get it right away?"

"Nah, I'm fine. You don't have to hurry."

A small smile tugged at her lip. "You really are strange, you know… For a vampire."

"Aw, shut it. I don't want to hear that from you."

"So you hear it often?"

He groaned. "Way more than you'd think."

She let out a heartily giggle. "Okay, I'm just gonna take these boxes and I'll bring some fire along when I come to pick up the rest. Keep an eye on them for me, please."

A non-committal hum reached her from the inside, but she didn't doubt he'd do it. Maybe her impression of him was wrong, and Levy would certainly get on her case for being too trusting, but Lucy somehow couldn't bring herself to doubt him. It was something she'd call borderline instinct, or maybe the strangest sixth sense a person could have, but in her case, it tended to be right more often than not.

And oh god, she really wanted to hurry up and get that shower.

* * *

Lucy let out a content little sigh as she walked out of the bathroom with a towel still draped around her shoulders, protecting the fresh clothes from the still dripping hair. She quite literally threw herself on the couch and hugged the nearest pillow, giddy sighs and laughter escaping her while she rolled around.

She was free.

Finally, she was free!

She could do anything now! Walk around the place in just her underwear, eat the ice cream while watching TV and even have breakfast still in her pajamas! The very thought that absolutely nobody could now criticize her for such irrelevant things would have left her singing and dancing…

If not for everything else that happened.

The giggles and laughter quickly died down as Lucy found herself lying on her back and staring into the ceiling. The light pink shorts she'd put on was comfortable and even the strapless blue shirt that was skin tight was way more comfortable than the sweat soaked t-shirt she'd been wearing all day.

About eight days ago—soon to be nine if she relied on the fact that it would be midnight in two hours or so—her whole life had been turned upside down in the one way she could have never imagined it happening. Even now, when the truth was quite literally right before her eyes in the form of a surprisingly friendly bright haired vampire, coming to accept it all still left her reeling.

So all those supernatural things she had heard of were true, after all?

It felt like it was years ago, when she'd been just your typical college student with a high end goal to become a famous writer, but in reality it wasn't even two weeks. Levy had been kind enough to offer her a place to sleep after her life had crumbled around her, but now that she was here, Lucy didn't know what she was supposed to do.

The promise Natsu had made still remained firmly at the forefront of her mind. He knew somebody who could likely answer most of her questions and all she really needed to do was ask. Her issue, though, was with something else entirely.

Ultimately, was she ready to hear the answers?

She was shaken from her thoughts when goose bumps came over her, caused by the sudden chill in the living room. She trashed her legs for a moment, cursing the fact that she must have left the window open and thoroughly grumbled as she was forced to get off the couch and close it, but she froze the moment she stood up.

The only window in the room was firmly closed, as were the balcony door. A sound, much like one of a person stepping on a creaky part of the floor, sent shivers down her spine.

"Who's there? Levy?" she asked, but her voice sounded far less threatening than she would have hoped it would be. Rationally, it was something she should have expected. She was so tired that the only thing keeping her from passing out right now was the fact that Levy was due to return from her part time job soon and Lucy had wanted an opportunity to properly explain things—everything.

Unfortunately, that also meant that her senses were far less keen than they should have been, and that the creaking she heard most definitely meant that there was somebody out there in the hall. But Levy wasn't supposed to be back, not yet.

One hand reaching for the phone that had been resting on the coffee table and the other grasping the TV remote as if it would serve her as a weapon, _hah_ , she made the first hesitant step towards the hallway.

"Who's there? If you don't come out, I'll—" the words hitched in her throat as sudden feeling of cold washed down her back. She spun urgently back towards the window, but saw nobody there. Panic was welling up in her now, and her heartbeat jumped to crazy levels, even as she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.

"N-Natsu…" she mumbled, even though she knew for a fact he couldn't possibly be there. Then the cold disappeared but the feeling that somebody was standing behind her wouldn't go away.

A scream tore from her throat and Lucy urged to get away, when a rough arm grabbed her firmly around her waist, trapping her in place with far superior strength compared to anything she could fight against. The TV remote slipped from her grasp as something firmly encased her wrist, twisting it behind her back. Hot breath tickled her ear, and a voice she didn't recognize sent chills down her spine.

"Well, this is curious."

A moment later, her phone was torn from her hand. Something sharp found its way to her neck and all her attempts at getting herself free ceased. It was like a sharp point of a cold knife, slowly gliding along her throat, but something told her that it was more likely a claw. In the window she could see faint reflection of something that looked more like a monster than a human.

"Who are you?" she breathed, her already raging heartbeat increasing even more.

Whoever her captor was, he deigned her question unworthy of his attention.

"Very curious," he said instead, as the claw now trailed circles along her throat. "I was wondering what the strange presence was, but it appears it was just another useless trash. How utterly disappointing. I wonder if the scent of your blood can be felt all the way down."

Lucy wasn't sure whether the realization that this… something… was after Natsu and not her left her feeling relieved or even more terrified. However, before she could wrap her head around the idea at all, an inhumane growl shattered all the glass in the small apartment, the window, the balcony and even the glass surface of the coffee table and all the kitchen cabinets.

Where the window glass used to be, now there was Natsu, face twisted into an ugly snarl that for the first time left her seeing the paranormal sides to him, sharp canines on full display, while his hands tore into the wooden frame with far more strength than he should possess. However, it was neither that, nor the fact that he had somehow found his way up to the eighth floor, that left the girl utterly terrified.

It was the eyes.

The orbs that had been borderline black now glowed bright, eerie red, and he looked very much the monster that the all the stories and legends made his kind out to be. There was something borderline monstrous in there.

Lucy's captor snickered. "Ah, and so the awaited guest finally arrives. I was wondering how long it would take you to notice. You've gotten weak, Dragneel."

"Mard _,_ you let go of her _this FUCKING SECOND_ —"

A claw scratched at her throat, eliciting a small gasp from Lucy. Blood slowly trailed down her skin and into cleavage. "N-n…"

Natsu growled again, the sound virtually sapping all her strength, but it had no effect whatsoever on her captor.

"How curious. Legendary Natsu Dragneel, wound up over a single worthless girl. Never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm telling you, you better fucking let her go right _NOW_! My beef ain't with you and you know it!"

"Ah, yes. I may not have been in your childish path of destruction indeed, but you should have realized your silly warmongering actions would stir up everybody in the underworld. And while I'm certainly not out to erase you from existence, unlike everybody else, I'm also not going just let you walk free after what you've done to Hell's Core."

The roar that escaped Natsu's throat could have easily destroyed the girl's eardrums. His hands desperately clawed at the frame, but despite all efforts, his body couldn't pass through, like there was an invisible barrier that continually pushed him out. Lucy's captor sniggered.

"Surrender, Dragneel, or this worthless child," a single sharp claw made circles over her stomach, easily ripping through the clothes, but not going deep enough to break her skin, "is going to become a puppet on my strings."

Whatever he'd been doing to her, Lucy realized soon, was far worse than just threatening. She was beginning to feel lightheaded and moving her fingers or toes quickly became just wistful thoughts. She saw the expression on Natsu's face morph, still furious, but there was something more there now, and on the off chance that the world pronounced her as utterly insane, Lucy thought it was concern.

"You wouldn't," he breathed, and that sound like he was just slightly out of breath made her more afraid than any one of his twisted faces or roars. Maybe it was because for the first time, he looked genuinely worried. Rapidly, the red was fading from his eyes.

"Oh, but I would. While worthless, there's still some potential here that I could use…"

Lucy felt her hand slowly lifting up, until her finger rested over the little stab that the claw had earlier left on her neck. She felt the liquid on her finger and slowly smeared it along the rest of her neck. She tried to stop it, she honestly did, but her body no longer listened to her, not her hands, her feet, not her tongue. Her eyes were all that responded and as the gravity of the situation slowly dawned on her, they began to tear up.

Natsu's face contorted. "I swear, I'll get you out of there, Lucy!" he hissed. "I swear it on my life, I'm going to get you out of there."

Her captor—Mard, Natsu had called him—let out a boisterous laugh. "And how exactly do you intend to do that? You would be better off just surrendering. We both know that coming with me is the best course of action for you."

The mild panic on Natsu's face after his failed attempt to punch through the barrier resulted in a tear sliding down her cheek, but Lucy understood that they were both powerless. From the outside, there was absolutely nothing he could do, no matter how hard he tried to tear at the space, while Lucy herself was hardly in control of anything. But then his eyes narrowed a fraction.

"It's his voice, Lucy," he hissed, his own voice dripping with hatred and anger the likes of which she had never heard before. "Like what I was doing with my eyes, he's doing it with his voice. You can fight it, Lucy."

 _The eyes?_ She tried to understand, but it eluded her, until she realized that Natsu's eyes were trained directly on hers, glowing red again, brighter than before. Strange feeling of serenity washed over her, somewhat familiar, but also foreign, whispering to her, urging her to move, and she felt compelled to listen despite not having any control over her body.

The realization struck her almost immediately as a gasp left Mard's lungs, but by that moment, it was too late.

Whatever proverbial control he had over her body slipped for just a moment, the moment it took him to realize that Natsu was trying to obtain the same control that he had, but it was enough. And while she hadn't understood it before, that intense look Natsu had given her all the way back in the car, it hadn't been just that. It had been much, much more—and she'd already fought it off once.

There was no doubt in her mind that she could do it again.

She seized the control with all her might and slammed her elbow into Mard's stomach—hard.

Truthfully, she was pretty damn sure it hurt her way more than it did him, but it allowed her to slip out of his grip and counter attack, the only way she knew how. Tracing an invisible symbol on his chest, she let the warm golden light do the rest. The symbol emitted a wave of energy that sent her flying back and into the wall near the window, while it sent Mard tumbling into the couch.

A silent 'wow' escaped Natsu as he watched, while Lucy slowly tried to push herself up from where she'd collapsed against the wall. Of course the spell had done more damage to her than it had to her enemy.

"Ah, shit! Lucy!"

She didn't need to be told twice.

Putting the last of the strength she had in it, she jumped through the broken window and straight into his waiting arms, before Natsu kicked off the windowsill. For a moment, they were merely drifting through the air, two firm arms holding Lucy clothes to his chest while her own wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Hold on tight," he mumbled in her ear, and a muffed gasp was all she could manage before they were plummeting towards the ground eight floors below. Somehow he stuck the landing without ever letting it get to her, before he slowly put her down.

Coming to stand back on the hard solid ground, Lucy wobbled a little but the moment she was sure her knees weren't going to give out on her, she released the hold she had on his neck.

"You alright, Lucy?" Natsu asked, voice low, just as she let out a little gasp as she realized his landing had left cracks in the concrete. Some very deep cracks, stretching for several meters in all directions.

"I'm… I'm fine, but this…" she squeaked, but his hand never quite left her shoulder, a comfortable weight she could lean in, before her knees stopped shaking. At least until he used it to push her back behind him. "Natsu?"

"We've got no choice but to fight," he uttered, eyes narrowing towards the window. Mard was already standing there on her balcony, and call her crazy, but Lucy would swear that he was only a little amused.

"I know," she breathed.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Natsu grumbled. "I'm sick and tired of this bastard making my life difficult every single time."

"Are you going to be alright?" she whispered.

"Aye. Can't make any promises for the building, though. Blasting the whole thing to the heavens would be the easiest thing to do."

"Don't you even _think_ —"

"I know."

If the icy cold feeling hadn't started running down her back again, Lucy would have snorted. As it was, her lips merely trembled.

"Here goes nothing," Natsu said, fist slamming into his palm. And then he kicked off into the air, the force of it kicking back the winds that had Lucy shielding her eyes. For a moment, she thought she saw a flash of light between them, but then there was an explosion, flames lighting up the night sky and swallowing Natsu and Mard and half of the apartment complex.

A gasp escaped her lips as she stared at the raging fire, transfixed, until the blaze slowly began to die down and all that remained was a tiny flicker that held on for several more seconds. Lucy's eyes darted everywhere in desperate search, but there was nothing else she could see.

Until a distant roar reached her ears.

"You're going down!"

A ball of fire formed somewhere above her head and Lucy screeched as it dawned on her that it was exponentially growing in size as it descended towards the ground.

"N-Natsu, hold on a sec—!" but for all it did, it would have been better if she hadn't said a word at all. The flame ball crashed into the middle of the street like a meteor, force of it strong enough to tear through the asphalt easily. Lucy covered her eyes and head desperately, but other than the strong wind blowing her hair back and an occasional speck of dust, nothing else reached her.

A boisterous laughter echoed not too far from her.

"Man, it's been so long since I last went all out! Too bad the bastard got away."

Slowly, Lucy cracked her eyes open, just in time to see a wall of clear ice shatter in front of her, revealing a smoldering crater left behind in Natsu's wake. Her mouth cracked open in the urge to ask what in the world had just happened, but no voice came out. Before it could, another voice interjected, coming from somewhere behind her.

"Now that was a piss poor job for somebody trying to level down the entire block."

The laughter stopped almost immediately, Natsu's eyes narrowing at the newcomer dangerously.

"I don't want to hear that from you, useless dumbass."

"Is that the best you've got, you moron!? What the fuck were you even thinking?"

Lower lip trembling, Lucy reached her hand out. "U-um… you guys…" It barely came out as a whisper, so instead she tried to get closer, for what purpose, she wasn't entirely sure. But the first step she made sent jolts along her body, her legs almost giving out and vision clouding. The exhaustion that had been there for a while now became impossible to ignore, the chilly night breeze leaving goosebumps over her exposed skin. By the time she tried to make the second step, the entire world around began spinning rapidly, and her knee hit the ground just as a distant call reached her ears.

"Lucy!"

"Oh, shit!"

She was out before she hit the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Exams were literal hell. Situation's not going to get much better in a while, but at least there's some free time now. Yaaaaas! Now onto your irregularly updated dose of fanfiction! Have fun!

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes to a faint light hovering somewhere in the air, but it took a moment for her sight to clear enough for her to recognize the street lamp. The surface she was lying on was hard, but there was something soft supporting her head, something she was grateful for given the spinning had yet to stop. The inside of her head was pounding, and all efforts to move her limbs felt more like she was trying to lift overweight bags with her pinky.

Sounds of an argument quickly reached her ears, but she barely managed to twist her neck enough to see where it was coming from, though even when she did, she wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at.

It definitely looked like a guy grabbing Natsu in a choke hold, before the vampire growled and toppled them both on the ground, twisting and turning and hissing until the ball of his foot nailed the stranger in the neck. At the same time, he had a knee repeatedly slamming into his stomach, a hiss coming out every time the hit connected.

Lucy tried to call his name, but what came out was more of a breathless groan. Why was her throat so dry?

Still, it was enough for both of them to freeze in place, Natsu's head lifting off the ground.

"Lucy?" he breathed, and she let out a tired sigh.

"Hey," she croaked.

"Hold on just a second—I just need to get rid of him and I'll—Ugh!" a fist caught him on the jaw, and Lucy winced. Natsu seemed barely affected, though it took several more moments of scuffle before he was sitting right beside her, while the stranger stood a couple feet back while rubbing his neck, grumbling something under his breath.

"You alright, Lucy?" Natsu asked, assisting when she put all her efforts into forcing herself to sit up.

She nodded slowly. "Just tired… and you?"

The grin that met her was bright enough that she nearly missed the half healed cut on his cheek. "Course I am. As if those bastards could ever put a scratch on me."

The stranger behind him snorted. "As if."

"The fuck did you just say, Gray?!"

"That bastard would have totally wiped the floor with you if I hadn't showed up!"

"Like hell he would have! I totally had the upper hand the whole time!"

The stranger—Gray, Natsu had called him—let out a snort, but said nothing as instead he trained his eyes on Lucy. She tensed, but stubbornly refused to look away. If it was an intimidation tactic, it wasn't going to work. She may have faith in Natsu, but this person, whoever it was—

"So what the hell are you?" he grumbled, dark eyes narrowed into slits.

What was intended to be a legitimate question came out as an indignant stutter on her part, but whatever more Lucy had intended to argue lost its purpose when Natsu shook his head and mumbled, "Later," then helped the girl get back on her feet. Gray picked up the discarded shirt that had served as her pillow, grumbling something the girl decided not to dwell on as she let Natsu guide her towards the nearest bench, her knees a little too wobbly to keep her standing straight

She collapsed on the wood, the several steps she'd taken more exhausting than she'd expected them to be.

"How long was I out?" she mumbled, a hand lifting to her burning forehead.

"Couple minutes," Natsu replied easily. "Y'know, when you said you were in all this for a short while, I didn't think you could pull off something like _that_. What was that seal?"

"Seal?" Lucy repeated, but a flash of golden light in her mind quickly reminded her of what he meant. She gnawed at her lip for several long moments, debating on whether she should tell him the truth, eyes switching from one man to another, but while Natsu only looked mildly curious, it was Gray who seemed to be ignoring her to the best of his efforts. Weirdly enough, it made her feel a little better. Good enough to actually mumble, "It's just… something I learned… I saw my mother do."

"Wait, you learned something like that just by watching? _Wow!_ "

A small chuckle escaped her lips, but Lucy said nothing more for a long moment, thoughts drifting to a series of events she'd rather not remember. Natsu continued animatedly talking about various things, some of which she ought to have paid attention to, but Lucy was so tired. She found her eyes closing, consciousness drifting again, until her head and shoulder collapsed onto something pleasantly warm and she drifted off to sleep.

Gray snorted. "Classy."

Natsu was right about to snarl something fitting for the situation, but the quiet little snores at his chest had him merely growling instead, and he pulled the girl slightly closer before she could wrench her neck or something else equally damaging. "Shut up," he hissed, when Gray snickered.

"You should probably know that Erza is on her way," Gray said after a moment, all amusement evaporating as his eyes looked off into the distance. "And she's pissed."

Natsu caught the look from the corner of his eye, gauging his reaction, not that he could really blame Gray for that after all this time. At any other moment, he likely would have panicked, or at least hesitated. As it was right now, he only smiled.

"Let her come."

There's was a flicker of amusement on Gray's face, right up until the moment Natsu stood up and hoisted the sleeping girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Oi, what are you doing?"

"Well I can't damn well leave her here, can I?"

Gray was about to argue that he could and damn straight should leave her right there, but he hesitated, long enough for Natsu to stalk to a nearby car that looked like it was quite literally falling apart and drop the girl on the back seat. He slammed the door shut and leaned against them with hands digging into the pockets of his slacks, a scowl gracing his face.

Then he let out a loud wail. "Maaaan, I'm hungry."

Gray's brows quirked, glare moving from Natsu to the car and back. "She's right in there _and_ she's bleeding."

"She ain't food," Natsu protested, but his face scrunched. "Not until I'm sure she's edible, anyway. And even then it just wouldn't feel right."

Gray kicked at the wheel lazily, taking a quick whiff of the scent. Even though it had been very little off it, the smell of blood lingering in the air made his stomach churn. "Isn't she an Enchanter, though? Those are way more than just edible."

Loud rumble that was Natsu's stomach almost made him chortle, and the expression on his face was downright comical. He snorted in amusement, while Natsu growled in protest. Maybe if he'd put some heart in it, it might have sounded vaguely threatening. As it was, it was borderline hilarious and snorts turned into full blown laughter that earned him a glare which only made the situation more amusing.

"Ugh," Natsu groaned, a hand hurriedly rubbing his scalp. "I don't think she's an Enchanter, the scent is just too strong. Was gonna ask gramps about it, but I'm not so sure. Not to mention that gramps is probably gonna be pissed that I got in a fight with Mard Geer of all the assholes out there."

"And he's gonna praise for what you did to Hell's Core? You wish." Gray snorted. "Speaking of, what are you going to do about that?"

Both pairs of eyes rested upon the demolition that Natsu's earlier eagerness had wrought. The crater in the street was stretching through the middle of the road and had gnawed even at the sidewalk. Little of the grass nearby remained scorched and one of the street lamps had titled dangerously, the light itself occasionally flickering.

"…"

"…"

"… Erza's gonna kill me, isn't she?"

"It'd be nice if that's all she did."

The pained whine that left Natsu's throat would have been hilarious had Gray not known that likely the same fate awaited them both.

* * *

The next time Lucy woke up, it was to the bright morning sun, familiar sound of water boiling and a fresh whiff of coffee that gave her a strange amount of energy she desperately needed. Despite that, she could barely crack her eyes open without the lids feeling needlessly heavy. She tried to twist a little and hog the blanket a little closer, because lord it was way too early for her to be up, she could tell by—well, she didn't know, but she didn't want to admit to the fact that she'd woken up so instead she just turned on the other side and hugged the pillow closer to her chest.

Wait… Pillow?

Lucy's eyes snapped open with a sharp intake of breath as she tried to lift up on her elbows enough to take in her surroundings.

Last she remembered was getting to sit down on one of the benches near the apartment complex and Natsu had been talking about something, but this place—

Soft and comfortable couch, a coffee table that seemed to be missing something and a shelf overloaded with books—definitely Levy's apartment. She tried to lift up her head a little higher and glance towards the kitchen, but she couldn't see much further than the bar separating the two.

Still, though, she could see familiar locks of hair as she heard the water settle down, now that it was removed from the ringlet.

"Levy-chan?" she croaked, and in return the other girl beamed.

"You're awake, Lu-chan!" The smile on her face was positively radiant. "Hold on, I'll finish the coffee in a minute."

Lucy hummed in content, when another voice joined her, one she didn't recognize. "And I'll have the breakfast ready in a moment."

"Right!" Levy chirped. "So you can just get up at your own pace, Lu-chan, no need to hurry. It won't get cold that quickly."

"What…? What?"

Lucy could only stare, as the prettiest face she had ever seen on a human followed behind her best friend, as the girls served what looked to be the most complete breakfast Lucy had seen ever since she'd started college. She blinked, several times, and inhaled the scent of the freshly done toast and her heart began to melt.

"Thank you Levy-chan! And you too, umm… well…" she bit her lip, putting on the best apologetic grimace she could, but the redhead took it in stride, a strange half smile lighting up her face. Belatedly, Lucy recognized it as amusement.

"It's Erza," the girl said after a moment. "And this is my way of expressing gratitude for what you've done for Natsu."

Having been a little too busy stuffing her face with some bacon and bread and whatever that thing that looked like sauce was, Lucy nearly choked when the dots in her head connected. "Natsu!" she exclaimed—or at least she thought she had. What came out sounded more like somebody choking on their food calling for help. Erza either understood or misunderstood, because her lips twitched again.

"Slow it down, Lu-chan," Levy giggled. "It isn't going anywhere."

If anything, Lucy chewed faster, the words leaving her the moment she could actually make a sound. "Where's Natsu? Is he alright? Why isn't he—" _here_ , but she never got that far. Of course she knew why he wasn't here and it pained her heart that she'd actually forgotten. She tensed, however, when the expression on Erza's face suddenly looked almost menacing.

"Oh, he's right outside—"

"LUCY, HEEEEEEEELLLLLP!"

Lucy nearly choked, but in seconds, she was leaning over the window pane, following the source of the scream. And sure she found it. Natsu was right there, hanging upside down, right foot wrapped in multiple layers of rope tied to the railing on Levy's balcony. He was swinging left and right like a pendulum, arms flailing. His face seemed to have taken on that strange green hue again, while his hands quickly clamped over his mouth for a moment. Then he started yelling again.

"LUUUUUCYYYY!"

"Goddamn it, stupid flame breath! _Stop swinging_!"

"Gray too?" Lucy gasped, as the man in question fruitlessly tried to punch Natsu after his uncontrolled swinging abruptly came to a stop when Natsu slammed into him head first and puked. It quickly erupted into a fist fight, or at least something that eerily looked like one, except the boys were swinging around a little too much for either to get a solid punch in.

"What happened to you guys?" Lucy called, but she was stopped from pulling on the straining ropes by a strong arm gripping her shoulder. She tensed.

"Just leave them be," Erza said lightly.

"B-but… the ropes… they won't hold for long."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Even if they snap, the worst thing that can happen is they earn a couple bruises."

Lucy caught the tense smile on Levy's face and a little shrug the girl made. From below, Natsu roared. "BRUISES? Fall from here will break my neck!"

"Like _that_ ever killed you before!" Gray hissed.

"URGH, shut up stupid ice prick! I'll show you now!" Natsu's fist, naturally, caught only empty air, while his target only laughed. Then his rope began to tear apart. Gray stilled.

"Ah, fuck."

"And that's enough of that," Erza said, as she gestured Lucy to head back towards the couch, just as the last of the threads gave out and Gray's rope snapped in two. Lucy was back in front of her breakfast when the noise of something heavy hitting the pavement reached all the way up to the eighth floor.

Suddenly she no longer felt hungry.

"Um… err… Erza, right?" At the redhead's nod, Lucy hesitantly continued, "Is he going to be alright?" Although Natsu's cackling coming from right under the balcony should have probably been enough of an answer. At least, until his rope snapped too. The string of curses that followed could easily be called educational, if it weren't for the fact that it was a little too vulgar. One glance confirmed that Lucy's face wasn't the only one flushing in second hand embarrassment.

Erza cleared her throat. "As I was saying, please go back to your breakfast. Afterwards, we have something important to discuss."

* * *

It was about an hour or so later that Lucy found herself walking downstairs with a pack of matches in hand and a bag under her arm, finally completely awake and energized. The breakfast that Erza and Levy had cooked up for her had been incredible in helping her regain strength, although most of her energy and vigor she owed to that hot shower. Even from behind the door, she could see Gray laying with his limbs spread all over the sidewalk, looking none the worse for wear, while Natsu was sitting on the hood of her car, inspecting his now completely torn shirt with a scowl.

"Uuum, morning," she mumbled hesitantly, and was met with a low grunt from Gray and a noncommittal hum from Natsu.

"Uhhh, guys? I brought food?"

Now _that_ got their attention. Natsu's eyes were on her before she'd even finished her sentence, all traces of dissatisfaction erased.

"Food?"

Lucy tossed him a pack of matches—something he eagerly caught.

"Thanks, Lucy," he grinned.

She smiled back, then crouched down besides his friend, holding out the ice pack. "Umm, Erza said this…" she hesitated, but he took it without complaint.

"Yeah, it'll do," he said simply, then tore the plastic apart and downed the contents in one gulp. Lucy smiled awkwardly, but neither of the boys was paying much attention to her at this point.

Honestly, had Erza not confirmed it that both of them were honest-to-god, blood-sucking vampires, Lucy wouldn't have believed it.

 _"Well, they're hardly the usual of the bunch, but that's a story for another day,"_ the redhead had said and Lucy understood it as 'this is the end of that and I'll tolerate no more questions', therefore she hadn't really wanted to test her luck. More importantly, she was curious to know what exactly Erza herself was, for she had not mentioned it and Lucy had been a little too flustered to ask, but that too could be dealt with at a later date. She didn't _feel_ like a vampire, if that was any way to put it.

Now, though…

 _"This is important, Lucy. I don't know what kind of an agreement you have Natsu, but merely by associating with him, right now, your life is in grave danger,"_ was what Erza had said, but Lucy had understood that for long enough. She didn't really need explanations. There were more important issues, and what worried _her_ was the amount of trouble she could potentially cause to them, if the situation was indeed as grave as Erza had explained it.

Maybe she should approach this honestly?

Or would that be going too far?

"Umm… Natsu…"

A low hum was the only sign of acknowledgment he showed, a little too busy playing around with the pocket of matches she'd brought him as a meal to pay her all the attention she really needed.

"See… about that promise…"

One of the matches snapped in two before he could set it on fire and for a moment he looked downright heartbroken.

"Ah… I just wanted to say… it's okay to back out. I mean, I wouldn't want to cause even more trouble than I already have and… and…" it was the first time she actually ran out of words to say to explain herself. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to talk about it, not about this, not right now.

For all her efforts, her pink haired companion only spared her one long unimpressed look. She looked back, as stubbornly as she could, given the amount of uncertainty swimming inside her. Really, it was a miracle she wasn't a shivering mess by this point and she was actually having a staring showdown with a vampire, but Natsu was strange enough in his own ways—she was too busy just trying to comprehend the fact he even existed to be actually worried about the fact he could probably kill her in half a second.

And that way of thinking was the exact reason why she was in this trouble to begin with.

"Gramps is in Crocus," he said simply. "He's dealing with the fallout with everybody else, probably. But I take it that what you're worried about has more to do with you than me, right?"

Lucy blinked. "Um…" _How the heck?!_

"That's what I thought."

"I didn't even say anything!"

He shrugged, a toothy grin settling on his face. A great way to show off that his teeth were just a little too sharp.

"I'm not gonna pry," he said. "Everybody's worried about picking the wrong side, or picking a fight with the wrong person. Erza, too. I can't really blame her for it, but I'm not like that. The entire demon population is now going to be after my head, hell, everybody in Crocus would be happy to have my head on a silver platter, demon or no. But if it takes storming in the middle of the city to let you meet gramps, I would."

In a painfully slow motion, Lucy nodded.

"Then it's settled!" The grin on his face was now positively brilliant. "We're gonna take 'em by a storm!"

A tiny smile rested on her face. "I suppose. But before that, can I ask you one thing… well… one name… Do you recognize it?"

"Shoot."

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was about to come. She prayed he didn't, that to him what she was about to ask meant nothing, but a part of her desperately wanted him to show recognition as well. And all things considered, she wasn't sure which would be the worse option.

"Have you ever heard of the Heartfilia clan?"

She bit her lip, waiting for the reaction to come, but it never did. Her tense muscles began to relax as she slowly garnered the courage to look at his face, but the careless grin she'd been hoping for was no longer there. What replaced it was a thoughtful frown, and what for a moment looked like a spark of anger, and suddenly all of Lucy's fear, anxiety and cowardice was back in full force.

When he spoke, his words sent chills down her spine and the only thing she really wanted to do was run away without looking back. Because for the first time, Natsu looked absolutely devoid of emotion.

Ultimately though, she stayed. If only because her limbs were trembling too much for her to actually move.

When he spoke, there was nothing in his voice to give out what he could be thinking.

"Oh. That makes sense."

Lucy shivered. "Ah… so… you do know… right?" The tension began to build up in her chest and the corners of her eyes began to water. "If—if they ever harmed you in anyway… I mean, I've heard of such horrible things—if my family hurt you in anyway, I…"

"Uh…"

She choked back a sob. "I'm sorry. I pretended I didn't know, but when Erza mentioned it, I remembered most of it. Hell's Core is the demon's nest—one of their most important projects ever and even more importantly—most successful. And you went and destroyed it while… while m-my… m-my _family_ —" the word slipped with much more wistfulness than contempt although it really should have been the exact opposite "—they helped _build_ it… I… I don't even…"

"Lucy—"

"I'm sorry! I know that coming from me, it isn't worth much, but…" the words died on her lips when he came to stand right in front of her. She pressed her chin to her collarbone, eyes firmly fixed on her shoes until Natsu stepped so close that her forehead was practically leaning against his chest.

"Sorry," he said, and it stumped her so utterly that she didn't even know how to argue back. She didn't know where to _start_. "Whatever kind of connection you think I have with your family, or Hell's Core, really, you're probably wrong. As a vampire, I'm a creature of darkness too. In a sense, I'm one of them. That's beside the point, though. What I know of the Heartfilia is either wrong or completely outdated, because one of them is standing right here in front me. So it doesn't really matter. Okay?"

She sniffed, but she couldn't possibly accept something like that as an answer. So even if he didn't know, it didn't erase all the atrocities and she understood now that whatever she'd expected of Natsu, it was impossible. It was her burden to bear. Of course he wouldn't understand.

"Hey, Lucy?" he called.

She looked up, hesitantly, as he pulled away to put some distance between them. "Yeah?"

"You said you wanted answers, right?"

She nodded, allowing him to lift her chin until he was looking straight in her eyes.

"It's probably gonna be dangerous. 'Specially so if you're really a Heartfilia."

"Yeah…"

"Still, that won't stop me. Or slow me down."

Again, she nodded, though her teeth sank deep in her bottom lip.

"So are you up for it? Wanna take that smelly city by a storm?"

A choked chuckle escaped her. His presence alone was helping her feel a little better and she would have gladly chalked it up to those eyes of his, if it weren't for the fact that she felt none of that mysterious pull. The word that she whispered was hers and hers alone. "Yeah."

"Wanna do it right away?"

Stronger, this time, she said, "Yeah."

"Then ya better get ready for it. Cause I'm all set and ready to go and honestly the longer we wait, the harder it's gonna get. So are ya ready?"

"Yeah!"

He grinned. "Then let's get going."

Lucy nodded firmly, wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eye. "Let me just get my keys."

For a moment she thought that his face had paled considerably, but a second look confirmed that he was just no longer interested in her and was back to playing with the matches, finally setting one of fire and swallowing it whole.

Then he started choking.

"Natsu!"

He groaned. "Wood is too dry!"

"Then don't eat it!"

"But it's faster this way!"

Lucy shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "Seriously, at least try to be careful about that. Those are still matches and matches aren't food… though neither is fire, usually."

Natsu shrugged and proceeded to swallow an entire burning match anyway. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'm off to get my things. Stay here and try not to cause any trouble!"

Of course, she got no reply in return, but it wasn't like she was expecting one. Right now, she was just a little too happy with the fact that he didn't hate her for who she was—or at least didn't hate her yet.

* * *

Gray could hear her nervous tapping on the floor as she waited for the elevator to come down all the way outside. He inspected Natsu for the third time, but the stupid flame breath had yet to do anything out of the ordinary. In fact, he was just busy messing around with the matches to really pay attention to anything else. Evasion tactic, and pathetic one at that.

"So… a Heartfilia?" Gray mumbled, nearly beating himself over not having a better thing to get the conversation rolling, not that Natsu was the type to cooperate with something like that really.

In fact, a disinterested "Mm" was all he got.

"And you're absolutely sure she's not an Enchanter?" Gray tried again.

"Positive."

He really wanted to slam his head into the wall, at this point. Or maybe he should just punch Natsu. Anything would do, at this point. For one last time, he tried. "Rumors say Jude Heartfilia is dead."

Finally, Natsu looked at him, but whatever he'd expected, it wasn't there. Dumb flaming ass was a perfect mask of neutrality which itself was a sign enough. A storm was brewing—a big one. And Natsu knew way more than he was saying.

"What do you want, Gray?" he asked.

"Aren't I the one who should be asking that?" he shot back irritably. "You destroyed Hell's fucking Core. Do you seriously think that's going to help you find them? Are you a complete idiot?"

"That's none of your business, Gray."

"They've been missing for over four hundred years, flame breath. Face it, they don't _want_ to be found. Destroying places left and right isn't going to fucking change that."

It had effect, although admittedly less than Gray had hoped for. Contained anger, unusual—uncharacteristic for Natsu. At least he was on the right track with this, if those trembling fists were anything to go by. And now, for the clincher—this could either break or make everything, and if he did it wrong—

"What the fuck happened to Happy, Natsu?"

Ah, fucking hell, of course he'd have no shred of delicacy when it counted. The look of pure rage on Natsu's face when the pink head spun was sickeningly unfamiliar, normally dark green eyes burning in crimson, while the hand that had found its way to his jugular cared not even in the slightest if it tore right through him. Sharp nails dug into his skin, arm trembling, but never taking that one step that would take it too far.

With a guttural roar, Natsu tore his hand away from Gray's neck, the crimson red in his eyes slowly dissipating, as he sat back down on the ground and continued to light the matches, but breaking every single one.

Gray said nothing and Natsu continued to ignore him, cursing under his breath every time a match snapped between his fingers, until there was not a single one left.

Fortunately, Lucy returned several moments later, with a hastily packed rucksack, two water bottles and a pair of thin-rimmed sunglasses. "I'm ready!" She came to a stop for a moment, looking from Gray to Natsu and back in confusion, before she asked, "Did something happen?"

"Naaah," Natsu said. "Say, Lucy, is Erza still upstairs?"

"Ah… about that…"

The need for words disappeared when the redhead came to stand right behind her. Lucy flashed them an apologetic smile, but it was kind of useless now. "You were saying, Natsu? You have a long way to go if you think you can just get rid of me that easily."

And the boys cursed in sync.

Gray took a deep breath, glancing up towards the bright summer day's sky.

This… this whole thing, whatever it was, it was going to be a mess. He was absolutely positive. But he'd be damned if he missed any of it.


End file.
